Documents / Document

FBI file: Kenneth Arnold

Internet Archive (FBI) · 24 pages · text by OCR

This FBI file, a report from the Seattle field office to the FBI Director dated August 1947, covers the Maury Island flying disc story told by Fred Crisman and Harold Dahl. It says Kenneth Arnold looked into the story for Ray Palmer, and that Army Intelligence officers Davidson and Brown died when their B-25 crashed at Kelso carrying the supposed fragments. The FBI found no sign of sabotage. Crisman and Dahl admitted the material had no connection to discs, and the report names Crisman as the most likely anonymous caller.

  • p. 2 …Five anonymous calls were received by a reporter, Tacoma Times, and the United Press Wireman, Tacoma…
  • p. 4 …He stated that he talked to TED MORRELLO, the United Press Wireman, Tacoma, who advised that…
  • p. 5 United Press Wireman, stating that Captain DAVIDSON and Lieutenant BROWN were the Intelligence officers that were…
  • p. 6 …TED MORRELLO, a United Press Wireman, Tacoma, Washington furnished substantially the same information that was obtained…
  • p. 9 …SMITH, 3027 West Laurehurst Drive, United Airlines pilot: It should be noted that Captain SMITH has…
  • p. 12 …MORRELLO of the United Press called and SMITH spoke to him on the telephone but refused…
  • p. 13 …and was informed that MORRELLO of the United Press had received another anonymous phone call at…
  • p. 14 …MORRELLO in the United Press Office. There they read the latest press releases and had a…
  • p. 24 …Marillo of the United Press and said that one of the parties that Mr. Arnold and…
## August 19, 1947

all of his information in the hands of the Army. SMITH stated that a couple of days later he called Major SANDERS at McChord Field and asked him if there was any recent information concerning the incident. SMITH states that Major SANDERS informed him that CRISMAN had not yet been contacted, but that the Federal Bureau of Investigation was "setting a trap for him". SMITH further advises that on Friday, August 8, 1947, he appeared before Lawyer JOHN NOLAN at the County-City Building, Seattle and made a deposition of the facts relating to the incidents in Tacoma from Thursday afternoon, July 31, last until Sunday morning, August 3, last.

A copy of this deposition is now in possession of the writer and is being forwarded herewith to the Bureau. It should be noted that this deposition is in no way as complete as the statement taken by the writer above and any setting out of this deposition in this communication would be superfluous

Copies of this communication are being sent to the Butte, Portland, San Francisco and Chicago Offices for their information only. Unless advised by the Bureau to the contrary, instant investigation is considered closed by this office.

For the information of the Bureau, Captain R. G. BJORNING, Intelligence Officer, McChord Field, Ft. Lewis, Washington advised at the weekly O.N.I.-S.I.D.-F.B.I. Intelligence conference that the Public Relations Officer at McChord Field had received a telephone call from an individual at Army Air Forces Headquarters at Washington, D. C., during which call the Public Relations Officer was requested to obtain a signed statement from DAHL and CHISMAN which could be published and thus publicly close the matter. Captain BJORNING further related that he had no additional information in this matter and that he did not handle it.

Very truly yours,

JB Wolcox

ENCLOSURES

DAM;PHL;MEK

JACK B. WILCOX

100-18945

Special Agent In Charge

CC - Butte

Portland San Francisco Chicago

Cases discussed

About this file

Document, cited by the archive. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is under it. The text was read from the page images by an OCR model; expect the odd misread word. 24 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.